Report: 21 baths join new rating system

BBJ

Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 09:28

Since Hungary introduced its new national bath classification system last year, altogether 21 Hungarian baths have joined the renewed rating system, Hungarian news agency MTI reported this morning citing the Hungarian Baths Association.

Under the new system, baths in Hungary can be rated with one to five stars in the categories of spa, waterpark, open-air bath, swimming pool and medical wellness bath, MTI reported.

The evaluation of baths takes place with the help of experts, however, the final decision of ratings is always made by Hungary’s National Economy Ministry, MTI added.

Hungary currently has 561 baths and swimming pools, of which 386 are open all year, MTI said, adding that the association estimates that approximately 200 bath attract tourists.

The customer base of thermal baths in Budapest has changed. While in 2010, most guests were aged over 60, currently the majority are below 30, Szilvia Czinege, director of sales and marketing of spa operator Budapest Gyógyfürdői és Hévizei Zrt., told business daily Világgazdaság.

All 11 of the functioning units of Budapest bath operator Budapest Gyógyfürdői és Hévizei Zrt. (BGYH) had a strong performance during the summer as they received nearly 1.18 million visitors combined during the June-August period, the company said on Friday.

The revenues of all baths and spas operating in Hungary rose by 3% last year and reached HUF 144 billion, Ákos Hegyi, the Secretary General of the Hungarian Baths Association, told state news agency MTI on Wednesday.

The historic Rác Thermal Bath in Budapest will be sold in an open tender, according to Sándor Börcsök, the liquidator of the companies that renovated the historic Turkish and Imperial-era baths, Tuesdayʼs issue of business daily Világgazdaság reported.

The revenues of Hungarian baths during the summer season edged up 2% this year compared to last year, although visitor numbers were unchanged, Gyula Czeglédi, managing director of the Hungarian Spa Association, said yesterday, as reported by Hungarian news agency MTI.

The Hungarian government has declared project companies established to renovate the Rácz baths, one of Budapestʼs original Turkish baths, of “strategic importance”, thereby necessitating the application of a special bankruptcy procedure, a decree published in the latest issue of the official gazette Magyar Közlöny shows.

Hungarian companies operating thermal baths in the country saw an overall revenue of HUF 58.5 billion in 2015, a rise of 12.5% as compared to the preceding year, the Hungarian Spa Association said yesterday based on an analysis it conducted, according to reports.

If Hungary’s dispute with the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat “ends unfavorably” for Hungary regarding the outlays of state-owned Eximbank, the government is ready to defend its stand in court, Hungary’s National Economy Minister Mihály Varga said today, according to reports.